All My Mistakes
by AcesUp08
Summary: Three years after the war and Hermione Granger's life was not what she had expected. She constantly has to fight her growing depression and the nightmares that haunt her. She then runs into an old enemy and a new friend, which will she choose?
1. Rock Bottom

**So I'm a veteran of this site. I've been posting for years but I've changed my name quite a few times and deleted my old stories because I've gotten older and slightly better at writing. This story is obviously set three years after the war. The Golden Trio and the rest of their class of Hogwarts are twenty and everything it pretty much cannon but we're disregarding the epilogue. Obviously Hermione is a little OOC but come on its fanfiction here people. Anyways, as always reviews are appreciated and I hope you enjoy.**

Rock Bottom

For once, in her twenty year old life, Hermione Granger did not want to get out of bed and start her day. It was a rather cold November morning and this cold seemed to seep through every nook and cranny and envelope her into its vice-like grip of cold fingers. She shivered just thinking about it and snuggled up more into her bed. It wasn't like they would be missing her at work or anything. The worst that could happen is that her boss had to openly check out, demean, and harass someone else. This day off was sounding better and better.

Hermione Granger, after graduating from Hogwarts top of her class, was offered many jobs but the only one that she could really take was the one in the Magical Law Enforcement Department of the ministry. Sure the aurors went out and caught the bad guys but, wizarding world needed some kind of lawyers to argue cases for the death eaters caught after Harry defeated Voldemort. Instead of the old way where anyone associated with the Dark Lord they threw in Azkaban, they finally got some semblance of muggle lawyers and a lot of the once death eaters that were only involved to save their families were cut a deal.

This was the only place that she could work in peace without people giving her promotions only because she was THE Hermione Granger; best friend of Harry Potter, smartest witch of her age, top of the class at Hogwarts, one-third the Golden Trio, girlfriend of THE Ron Weasley the keeper for Puddlemere United, and recently heartbroken by the same Ronald Weasley. Of course there is always a price to any route you take in life and hers was that she was stuck as secretary to the World's biggest bigot, that never let her get further than secretary because he had his head so far up his ass that he did not realize women were just as smart and good for more than the enjoyment of men.

It's not that she couldn't quit, she could, but then she would prove everyone right that she couldn't get anywhere without her fame. By taking this low-life job she had expected to work her way up the hard way but it never happened The stupid idiot that is her boss John Wright was thought that because she was his secretary that meant he could say suggestive things to her, demean her, openly check her out, and many other things. It was quite tiring but luckily he had not taken it far enough that she had to hex him and lose her job. He was the highest ranking lawyer in the entire wizarding world. Everything had gotten so screwed up after the whole debacle with Ron and taking the stupid job. If she had just listened to Harry and let him use his connections, hell even used her connections she could have gotten that idiot Wright fired a long time ago and be in his position right now. But no, she had to be all prideful and not ask for Harry's help after she realized what she'd gotten herself into. Basically, she had hit rock bottom and had no one to help her back up.

Sometimes she wondered if her title as the smartest witch of her age was correctly given after all. Merlin knows Rita Skeeter had been trying to prove that statement right for years.

Groaning Hermione glanced at her clock and after a silent debate her goody-two-shoes side from her school days won over and she decided to brave the cold and go to work. She rolled out of bed, literally, and crawled toward her bedroom door. Her black cat, Deuce, (Crookshanks died sometime after the war and she had felt the need to replace him) stared at her with his bright green eyes from his perch on her bed and almost seemed to raise an eyebrow at her. She scowled back,

"Don't even say anything mister you still get to be all warm and cozy on my bed while I have to go to hell…I mean work."

The cat stared at her a little more and then lay back against her pillows.

Great now she was talking to cats, could her life get any more pathetic? Even the cat thought she was pathetic.

She made it all the way to the kitchen area of her little one bedroom flat and finally decided that coffee was much more important than her inability to stand and her coldness so she stood and started a pot of coffee. Sighing, she went back into her room to change into some work clothes.

Hermione had changed a lot since her school days. The war changed everyone really, but Hermione had lost a lot. Her parents were the first thing. She had travelled to Australia to find them only to discover that they had been found by death eaters and killed. All of the people killed during the war was a huge toll on Harry, because he felt responsible but he had Ginny and Teddy to help pick up the pieces, but Hermione had no one to tell about her nightmares of when she was tortured in the Malfoy Manor, or her grief over her parents, or any of the others killed in the war, or her break-up with Ron, or her crappy job, or the fact that she felt very alone in the world. Sure Harry and Ginny, Luna, Ron; all of them were there, but she felt distant from them, they wouldn't understand because they were all finally happy with life. They lost people but they had others there to help them through it. She didn't, she had no one to wake up to and cry about her nightmares.

There were many times that she woke up and contemplated apparating to the Potter residence, but then she remembered they had their own lives to worry about. With little James Sirius a year old now and Teddy three, they had more than enough to handle without Hermione's petty problems. And Luna, she couldn't bother Luna when the girl was just getting over her father's death and finally happily dating some whack job just like her. And Ron, well, that had ended badly. They were still friends of course but he was just too hung up on Fred's death. He couldn't get over the fact that one of his brothers was dead. He tended to get a little bit too drunk and she had been expecting it really but eventually he decided he didn't want anything to do with her, she just wished it hadn't been on their wedding day. They made up but didn't get back together, he couldn't deal with any of his issues so he moved in with Ginny and Harry for a while and he was definitely doing better.

It's not like she was still alone because men didn't ask her out, or she wasn't pretty or anything. She was actually quite pretty, or at least she figured she was. And men asked her out plenty of times, and she went on a few dates here and there she just never really connected with any of them. They didn't understand…

Hermione glanced into her full length mirror to gage her looks. She wasn't exactly tall and blonde or supermodel material. But she at least had less bushy hair and it had darkened to a rich brown. She had thinned and toned out as well. She was pretty enough she supposed.

A glance at the clock told her that she was almost late for work so she quickly pulled on her black boots over her black tights. Groaning, Hermione grabbed her wand and the usual ministry employee robes over her dress, then ran into the kitchen to get her coffee. As soon as she poured it into her mug she apparated into her office only to find John Wright sitting on her desk. She shrieked and spilled her coffee down the front of her robes.

"Drink much Hermione?" he sneered at her, "You've kept a very important client waiting and I am not pleased."

Hermione turned away from the man to hide her scowl. But he had already turned to a person standing behind her presumably the client.

"So sorry to keep you waiting sir, so sorry, now that my assistant is here we can get down to your business. Women, am I right? What are they good for besides their looks. Anyways, I am here to serve in any way I can sir."

Frowning at the fact that John Wright sounded like a groveling imbecile and his blatant women bashing but secretly very appreciative of anyone who could make him act that way, Hermione glanced to the person standing behind her and found a smirking Draco Malfoy in his expensive muggle suit, looking every bit the Slytherin Sex-God he supposedly was at Hogwarts. After gaping like an idiot for a couple of minutes she finally realized that they were both expecting her to say something, Malfoy looked amused and Wright looked like he was ready to smack her.

"Granger, may I see you outside the office for one moment?" Malfoy asked just as she was about to ask what they had asked her.

She opened her mouth to protest and voice her opinion of where he could accompany himself to when he opened the door and none-to-gently, pulled her into the hall, effectively shutting the door on an open-mouthed John Wright.

As soon as the door was closed, Hermione snatched her arm back and began to fume at the pale-faced ferret.

"This is the bloody worst day of my life! First, I wake up only to find that it is negative a million degrees outside and I cannot get out of bed, then my cat thinks I'm pathetic, then I realize I am pathetic, then I'm late for work, spill coffee on myself, get insulted by my boss, find out that I'm apparently going to work with Draco Malfoy the bane of my existence for my entire schooling career, wait what in the bloody hell are you doing in my office, with my boss ferret?"

He smirked at her red-face and out of breath from her tangent.

"Nice to see you too Granger, how am I? Oh I'm wonderful and yourself? I see very good, well this has been a lovely chat," he said sarcastically.

She stared at him,

"Well excuse me if we had never been on the best of terms seeing as you were either teasing me, teasing my friends, trying to kill me, or trying to kill my friends," she retorted, "Not to mention the fact that your aunt tortured me in your house."

She wasn't surprised when her words seemed to not affect him in the least. Instead he stared at her, and then cleared his throat.

"I am here," he began, glancing at her with his pale gray eyes, "Because I need the services of Mr. Wright as a lawyer and as he is weighed down with cases already he has appointed you to my case."

"I'm not technically a lawyer you do know that right?" she told him confused, "I mean I am but Mr. Wright appointed me his secretary instead of official lawyer. I help him with cases, actually I do most of the work but he argues the cases."

"I am aware," he nodded.

Hermione was a little bit confused and she stared dumbfounded at the man in front of her, who was being polite, not even polite, _civil_ to her.

"I'm confused," she stated rubbing her forehead tiredly.

It was only eight o' clock and she was already drained.

"Let me break it down for you," he said gaining back his smirk, there's the Malfoy she knew, "You are going to be working for me for the next couple of months on my case, your lovely boss already sealed the deal."

"I don't even get any say in this?" she screeched, "No, this is not happening, you can't just waltz in here Mr. I'm-so-good-and-rich-and-sneaky-and-big-CEO-man-no-one-can-stop-me-because-I'm-a-pureblooded-prat Malfoy, I am not going to take your bloody bull-shit! You used to torture me and I bet this is just some sick ploy to humiliate me, or, or something! You go in there and tell my boss that I am not doing this do you understand me?"

"Merlin Granger!" he fumed startling her with his change in demeanor, "I've been trying to be bloody polite to you this entire time, and it has taken my very small amount of patience to a new level of strained. Why in Merlin's beard would I waste my time on the brainiac little Gryffindork of the Golden Trio when I have so many better things I could be doing! And you think you could be an adult and just help me and be done with it, but no, you're still the same goody-two shoes prideful Granger from Hogwarts with her Gryffindor pride stuck so far up her..!"

"Ms. Granger!" the old secretary for the magical law enforcement department interrupted them with a sharp glare to Hermione and a cursory glance at Malfoy, "You would do well to bite your tongue and act like a young lady and not a bumbling baboon! What is this? Coffee? Unacceptable go clean yourself off and I will escort young Mr. Malfoy here into your office, hopefully he can forgive your outburst and still accept our Mr. Wright as his representative."

Hermione scoffed at the old woman's blatant sucking up and stomped toward the ladies' room. Muttering about killing ferrets, old ladies, and prejudice bosses. Today was just not her day.

**Remember to review! The next chapter will be up within the next couple days. **

**~Ace~**


	2. Hunks and Hell

**Long wait I know but I couldn't get up any energy to write this story as there were no reviews. I'll still write it, because I love writing but please review? I need some constructive criticism or something. Thanks guys. **

**Disclaimer: Sorry forget this in the last chapter…I do not own the Harry Potter series or any of the wonderful characters, I simply borrow them and play with them in my own twisted mind and occasionally put that on paper…or computer…whatever. **

Hunks and Hell

Hermione examined herself in the mirror of the ladies room, her eyes seemed to have bags underneath them, but for the first time in a while they contained that spark that she used to have, an actual sign of life. Who knew that it would take Draco Malfoy of all people to bring back some life to her.

She snorted at that thought and turned her attention to the troublesome stain on her robes. After identifying the correct spell she muttered it under her breath and made it disappear. Glancing in the mirror once more she gave herself an approving nod and took a deep breath before acknowledging the fact that she would have to accept working with Draco Malfoy and act like the mature adult she was rather than allowing him to bring her down. She then left the washroom only to ram smack into a hard body. Both Hermione and the most likely male body fell to the ground with Hermione sprawled atop him.

Her intended apology died on her lips as she caught site of this man's beautiful hypnotizing green eyes. She continued staring at him for Merlin knows how long before he cleared his throat and she came back to reality.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed as she scrambled off of him.

He smiled devilishly at her as he also stood up and looked her up and down.

"Oh it's no problem, it's not every day that a gorgeous woman like yourself knocks me off my feet, " he grinned at her and she blushed scarlet then he held out his hand for her to shake, "Nic Ricci, at your service Hermione Granger."

At her surprised look he chuckled.

"Oh you must know how famous you are Miss Granger?"

"Well yes but..."

"Sometimes it seems like just yesterday, anyways Miss Granger, you were just who I was searching for."

He pulled out a press badge for the Daily Prophet from his pocket and grinned sheepishly.

"Do you think I could get a statement about your new assignment with Mr. Malfoy?"

She glanced at his hot shaggy brown hair, bright green eyes and the fit body she could see behind his robes and nodded dreamily.

"Great, well then how about we do that over coffee tomorrow on your lunch-break my treat?"

Still nodding stupidly to this amazingly hot man, Hermione tried to pull herself out of her trance long enough to say more than three words to him in the very least.

"Wonderful, well I'll meet you right here tomorrow at...wait what time is your lunch?"

She opened her mouth but no words escaped so she cleared her throat.

"Um…what?...oh...twelve o'clock," she stuttered.

"Right see you then," He spun around with one last grin directed towards her but just before he boarded the lift added, "Hermione."

And she thought she might lose her mind as she fanned herself in the absence of his hotness. She had never been speechless in front of anyone much less a boy before, she had basically lived with Ron and Harry throughout school and then lived in a small tent with the two of them during the war. No, boys did nothing to intimidate her but this one, for some reason had caused her mind to turn to mush. This was the first time in a long time anyone had made her feel so excited, she had not been quite so eager for any of her past dates.

Sighing she figured it was time to go face to music and turned back to her office just as Malfoy started making his way toward her, staring with his usual unreadable mask where Nic had just left, which was probably just a coincidence…..

"Why were you talking to Ricci?" Malfoy demanded as she approached him, still staring at the lift.

She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at the blonde; obviously not a coincidence.

"I can talk to whoever I want to talk to, but thank you for prying into my personal life it's just so like you Malfoy and..wait how did you know Nic's name?" she stopped her rant to ask as she realized he had addressed Nic by his last name.

At her mentioning Nic's name Malfoy's head snapped to focus intently on her, she caught a glimpse of curiosity mixed with anger in his expression before he put his walls back up. He studied her closely for a few minutes before clearing his throat.

"So have you finally accepted the fact that you're to work for me and receive a much higher pay than you obviously do at this dump?" at the sound of 'higher pay' but not missing the fact that he ignored her question about Nic, Hermione raised her eyebrow at him.

"What does this job entail exactly?" she asked curiosity getting the best of her.

He smirked at her again, "So does this mean you're agreeing to the job?"

"You cannot answer a question with a question Malfoy!" she ground out in irritation, but seeing his raised eyebrow and amused glance she relented, "Fine, yes I am accepting the job."

Under her breath she added, "Not that I have much choice."

"And you promise to be at least slightly more civil to me?" he added still smirking.

She glared at him but he continued looking amused.

"Oh alright, alright I promise," the brunette grumbled, "Now what is it that you need a defense attorney for exactly?"

"Well," the blonde started as he began stalking toward the elevator doors in that Malfoy way, "My cousin is in a bit of a tough spot and she's going to need some help."

Hermione kept pace with him as they made it to the lift. Once inside she looked at him expectantly. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"That's it?" she asked incredulously, "That's all you're going to tell me?"

"Obviously not Granger but this is neither the time nor the place," he gave a pointed look around the lift at the nosy ministry employees staring at them openly or out of the corner of their eye obviously curious as to why Hermione Granger would be caught dead with Draco Malfoy and vice-versa.

"I see," she sighed sending a glare towards the older woman to her other side who was openly gawking at her.

As the lift finally reached the main lobby of the ministry, Hermione and Malfoy made their way to the floo area. Hermione grew a little weary as she realized she would be spending a lot of time at the place she had tried to block out of her mind. Malfoy Manor haunted her dreams to a point where the mere sight of it was going to bring back a lot of pain.

Sensing Hermione's hesitation, Malfoy turned to her and softened his features a little.

"Look, I know, but you have to face it," he threw some floo powder into one of the fireplaces and nudged her toward it.

She scowled at him, more over the fact that he had seen her hesitate than anything he said. Then held her head high as she stalked into the fireplace, closed her eyes and calmly and clearly spoke her destination. Stepping out of the fireplace gracefully moments later, she brushed herself off and froze as she realized which room she was in. Suddenly, she was back to seventeen years old being dragged into the room by snatchers and everything was rushing at her all at once. Bellatrix, the sound of that horrible spell being spoken over and over again, pain, a knife, more pain, Bellatrix' maniacal laughter, pain, pain and more pain, screaming until she realized that the screaming was her own. Then there was Malfoy, so alike the present Malfoy, standing in the corner just staring at her with his cold gray eyes and that same unreadable mask. But the pain, she couldn't stand it anymore she was going to let go, just die already, until someone was shaking her and she was back in the present.

Draco Malfoy was staring down at her, there was a look that she couldn't quite place as he shook her and said her name, but as soon as she stopped screaming and thrashing that damn mask was back.

"Bloody Hell Granger!"he panted as he plopped down next to her in the middle of the ballroom, running a hand through his silky blonde hair.

She closed her eyes and let the tears come as she lay next to Draco Malfoy in the middle of the room she had been tortured in three years prior.

"I know," she whispered.

After a long silence Malfoy's true colors returned.

"As much fun as this has been we need to get to work, the sooner we do this the sooner I can get out of your presense," he sneered as he stood gracefully.

Ignoring his tone as she silently agreed entirely, she stood as well. He then led the way out of Hermione's nightmare and into another.

But as Hermione stared at the back of the Slytherin Prince she couldn't help but be curious as to whether there was more to Draco Malfoy than meets the eye.


	3. Mazes and Malfoys

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter obviously…although I do wish I could get my hands on Draco…..

Sorry for the wait!

Malfoy Manor was not what Hermione had been expecting. It was more extravagant and beautiful than she could have ever dreamed and that was after she had only seen a couple of rooms. Everything was the finest it could be, marble and silver comprising of most of the house. Then, there were also the large amounts of emerald and green colors being the main theme of the decorating. Even though the green was a bit Slytherin for her she couldn't help but think it worked well with the house and made it elegant and beautiful.

Hermione loved the staircases leading up to the second floor from the entrance hall. They were marble and it made the manor look more like a castle the way the two staircases led upstairs and met at the top. The banister had intricate steel designs in the rails and a smooth brass look over the rails. She fell in love with house just because of the staircase.

While she was admiring the intricate detail on the banister she failed to see which way Malfoy had gone. After making it up the stairs and glancing around she realized it was going to be impossible to figure out which way he went. There were rooms upon rooms upon rooms all with closed doors; which were probably locked. Frustrated, Hermione crossed her arms and stomped her foot hoping the idiot would realize that she wasn't with him and come and find her.

Of course, knowing Draco Malfoy there was a good chance he lost her on purpose just so that he could make fun of her later for her having to wander around the house, all while he flaunts his huge house and money in her face. Oh the joys of her job, and her luck, it would be just her luck that she would be stuck having to work with the biggest prick on the planet

Okay, so he had not been as much of an insufferable prat as he used to be but he definitely worked hard to get on her nerves. Like this whole debacle for instance, honestly, any other normal considerate person would have made sure their guest was following them before they waltzed off into their humongous house that any normal person would not be able to navigate on their own, and left her there to fend for herself.

After a couple minutes of standing in her place by the stairs and pouting while she rambled in her head she sniffed in indignation and finally decided to set off toward the right side of the house. As she made her way through the many hallways she found that all of the doors were indeed locked. She was just starting to think that maybe she should send her otter patronus to tell Malfoy where she was when suddenly there was a woman in front of her and she was just barely able to avoid running into her.

After they apologized profusely to each other Hermione was able to examine this girl. The only way she could describe her would be beautiful. She had platinum blonde hair and gray eyes exactly like Malfoy. Actually, she shared all of the Malfoy features besides the cold, unattached mask that he and the rest of this family always wore.

"Oh, hello!" the girl exclaimed with a smile, "Are you a friend of Draco's? As you can probably imagine he doesn't introduce many of his friends to me, as I'm sure you know Draco Malfoy is the most stubborn and difficult man alive. I'm Ariel you must be Hermione Granger…"

Hermione was still stuck in the thought process of staring at the beautiful girl. _This must be Malfoy's girlfriend, _Hermione thought bitterly, she was beautiful and would continue the typical Malfoy features. Not that it really mattered to her, she was just there in order to do her job and be done. Why would she care if Malfoy had a secret girlfriend, it didn't concern her whatsoever.

"…where is he anyways?"

The brunette tuned back in to the blonde girl's rambling at her question.

"Oh well I kind of lost him."

Ariel cocked her head and grinned.

"I see well he's very easy to lose and honestly I'd probably lose him too if I were you the little git. Unfortunately, he's the only one who will show me anything close to kindness. Even though he doesn't show it he is a good guy, no matter how misguided."

Hermione raised her eyebrow at the girl skeptically.

Ariel only smiled knowingly back at the witch who so obviously was intrigued by her cousin.

"He's helping me isn't he?" she pointed out and the began walking down the hall motioning for Hermione to follow, "Come on I'll take you to his study, you must have pissed him off brilliantly if he left you to get lost, good for you."

This girl just kept getting stranger and stranger. She was not at all the type of girl Hermione would picture Malfoy with. Actually, Hermione really couldn't picture anyone besides Pansy Parkinson being able to deal with Malfoy well enough to date him. With that entertaining thought of Malfoy being stalked by Pug—faced Parkinson, Hermione happily followed Ariel down the halls that she had just come through and into the snake's pit, oh how that term worked so literally for this situation.

As soon as the girls walked into the study of Draco Malfoy, they found him standing behind his desk and looking at the other man in the room, who had his back turned, with that cold indifferent mask he always wore but this time with much more coldness to it. A slight glance in their direction was all the girls received as acknowledgement from Malfoy.

"Mr. Tompkins, I assure you, my company is doing quite fine on its own I do not believe that I am in need of any help from you," Malfoy stated with a tone that clearly concluded the argument the two men must have been having and effectively dismissing the man from his office.

Hermione wasn't sure whether the man had a death wish or if he was just that dumb but he ignored Malfoy's obvious dismissal and continued his argument.

"But Mr. Malfoy, I assure you that all of your ehem," here he glanced toward the women in the room, "Ah uncouth? Yes, uncouth, uncouth mannerisms toward other businesses and certain clients are causing some discomfort for your potential clients! You should really consider having me as your…"

"Pardon me sir," Malfoy interrupted fixing the Mr. Tompkins with a cold glare that clearly gave off a you-better-get-out-of-my-home-now look, "But I believe we are done with this conversation, I will handle my business how I see fit and you will stay out of my affairs. In addition to that I do not believe that I ever gave you permission to step out of your position as a mere manager of personnel, and into a business partner, you may leave now."

The man paled slightly at the young Malfoy's intimidating form and fled the room. Hermione rolled her eyes as he then trained his gaze on the two women.

"Oh don't you try that on me you little git!" Hermione seethed as she strode up to his desk, "You left me in this maze that you call a house for lost! You arrogant bastard! I comply with your request for help when I don't have to, mainly because you left me no choice after you bribed my boss, but also because I am such a good person, and then you leave me on my own to wander for hours around your house and you don't give a rat's arse!"

Ariel was still standing over by the door watching with amusement as her cousin dropped his usual unaffected exterior mask and began to get irritated. This feisty, pretty, petite brunette muggle-born was the only person, besides herself of course, that could ruffle her favorite cousin's feathers to a point where he actually showed emotion. This was quite a development and one that Ariel was not going to ignore, her cousin needed someone he could rely on, to continue the Malfoy name and Ariel was going to make sure that Hermione Granger was going to do just that.

"Now see here Granger," he started but Ariel interrupted by sashaying up to his desk.

"Draco darling why don't we explain to Hermione why exactly we need her help, yes?" she asked prettily.

He narrowed his eyes at the brunette in question not bothering to glance at his troublesome cousin.

"Of course, how silly of me," he muttered resignedly plopping down in his desk chair.

"Granger we need your help proving my cousin Ariel here did not murder her husband."

Read and review!

~Ace~


	4. Muggles and Murder

**Disclaimer: As you all know I do not own Harry Potter or any of the lovely characters in the books. I do however own this plot and my OC**

**Muggles and Murder**

"Murder?" Hermione choked out glancing back at the amused blonde girl.

"Well she didn't actually do it, did she?" Malfoy said exasperated, "That is why we need your help."

"Murder," she muttered faintly.

"Merlin Granger, yes, murder, she has been accused by muggle police for killing her muggle husband the muggle way!" he snapped disdainfully.

"Her husband is a muggle? The muggle way? Why didn't you hire a muggle lawyer?" Draco rolled his eyes at her questions.

"Yes he was muggle, yes the muggle way and because I have no patience for muggles and honestly I figured you were the only one competent enough at that horrible office to handle my cousin's case. Not to mention I'd rather deal with you then muggles."

Hermione finally caught the cousin part and realized the blonde wasn't Malfoy's girlfriend at all, she was his cousin, now that actually made a lot more sense. For some reason she was relieved by this revelation which slightly disturbed her.

Ariel caught Hermione's relief and couldn't help but feel amused.

Hermione closed her eyes and pinched her brow with two fingers, trying to digest everything they told her and suddenly feeling exhausted.

"Alright, fine, so how was he killed?" she relented eventually.

"Stabbed through the heart," Malfoy responded.

"Let's go over the case files and I'll need to know everything about the case so we'll have to get our hands on the police reports somehow."

"That can be arranged," Malfoy responded vaguely.

She glanced at him but decided to ignore him and continued on her rant about what they would need. Malfoy stared at her the entire time and Ariel just looked amused and seemed to be off in her own little world. It reminded Hermione of Luna just a little bit.

"Ariel, "I'd like to hear your side of the story if you don't mind," Hermione finally asked the blonde girl.

"Of course, well, it was two days ago that they found him I had been out shopping all day by myself so no alibi, the thing is none of the shops I went in have any record of me either. Anyways, once I got home I went about making dinner thinking Rob was in his study working. Once it was finished I rang the bell for dinner a few times, but he didn't come down. I finally decided to go upstairs at about 6:00 p.m. and found him there on the floor behind his desk," Ariel paused here her haunted expression indicating she was remembering her husband and the gory scene it must have been, she cleared her throat and then continued, "It was horrible, I stared for ten minutes not really believing the scene that I was seeing and what felt like hours later but was actually only about ten minutes I approached him but he was long dead."

Hermione was quite speechless as she stared at the blonde in sympathy and then a glance at Malfoy surprised her and made her even more speechless because the man was actually showing sympathy as well! This was quite unusual in Hermione's eyes and she was not quite sure what to think.

"I called the police shortly after, as well as the ministry. The ministry however, refuses to help and the police are positive that I did it," Ariel finished angrily.

"There was no record of you at all? No one remembered you and no view of you on the camera?" Hermione asked once she found her voice again, after Ariel's nod she continued, "That sounds like wizard involvement."

"Yes but who would want the muggle dead?" Draco asked confused.

Ariel glared at him, "The muggle? Really? He had a name, Robert Donahugh, he's dead and you still can't call him by his name?" Ariel tsked at her cousin scornfully and then turned to Hermione, "Draco never approved of me marrying Rob, he found that the man's muggle status completely over-ruled his compassion, status, money, and looks. Honestly, he was perfect and the only thing Draco could see was the muggle status."

Hermione's sharp glare was quickly trained on the blonde man who glared right back at the witch. He was no pansy and he didn't care what she thought anyways….no of course he didn't…

"Oh dear look at the time we've spent more time here than I thought it's already a quarter past five!" Ariel exclaimed suddenly, "Hermione darling you best be getting home we wouldn't want to keep you all night!"

Surprised, Hermione glanced at her watch and found the witch's statement to be true. Deuce was going to be extremely upset with her that he didn't get his supper on time.

"It was no trouble at all Mrs. Donahugh, I will look over the case tonight as soon as Mr. Malfoy owls me the files and I will try to see if there were any loopholes that this murderer left, they obviously were trying to frame you for this but as to who it was and why we will have to figure that out. In the meantime try to stay here at the Manor and I will come up with a statement that we can make to the press tomorrow about your innocence."

"Oh Hermione dear, it's Ariel no formalities needed, and thank you so much for agreeing to help me. We'll expect you here at say 8:00 a.m. tomorrow?" she glared at Malfoy when she noticed he was about to walk out without addressing their newly appointed lawyer, "Right Draco?"

Draco turned and glared coldly at his cousin. The blonde witch glared right back and if Hermione was being honest the latter of the two scared her a lot more than the former. Finally, the man sighed and turned his icy gaze to Hermione.

"Don't be late."


	5. Of First Dates and First Encounters

**Authors Note: Okay my faithful readers (if I have any left) I am incredibly sorry for the long wait but college is time consuming and soccer is even more time consuming, and then the stupid error thing with fanfiction that wouldn't let me post. But never fear I will be updating more frequently soon!**

**First Dates and First Encounters**

The morning with Malfoy and Ariel had been absolutely horrible. Hermione and Malfoy had not stopped bickering the entire time. Even Ariel had left the room because she was so annoyed with the two. But in all honesty it wasn't her fault. Because Malfoy was the one who had to be such a bloody git about everything. He was horrible he had absolutely no reason to be like that.

She got to the manor in the morning and Malfoy was in his study, Ariel hadn't arrived yet. After awkwardly standing by the door for a while, Malfoy finally told her, "to stop being a bloody idiot and sit down," Hermione hadn't taken too much offense because he was right. She sat in the chair on the other side of his desk Malfoy studied her for a moment making her uncomfortable until he cleared his throat and stuck out his hand to her. Hermione glared at it suspiciously until he sighed exasperatedly and stood up to grab her idle hand and shake it.

"Look let's just call a truce until Ariel's case is over and then you can go back to whatever it is you do and I'll continue to ignore you if I ever see you in public again, yeah?"

Then they shook on it and sat down in their respective seats. Both inconspicuously wiped their hands on their seats.

"So," Malfoy started verging on feeling awkward but Malfoy's aren't awkward so not quite, "The house elves are preparing lunch for Ariel and I today and you are going to join."

Hermione glanced up from the case folder that she had been looking over with raised eyebrows.

"Oh? I am?" Hermione questioned, "Well Malfoy you must be mistaken because I have plans."

"Plans?" Malfoy asked sharply, "Plans with who?"

"Well, if you must know, Nic, Nic Ricci," Hermione answered smugly.

Malfoy's grey eyes were more like a darkening sky before a storm as they narrowed at the brunette. Malfoys' don't get passed up for something better, there is nothing better.

"Ricci," he spit out the name and stood up to tower above her, "Is an arse and a pig, you have no business having lunch with him, I forbid it!"

Hermione's brown eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed at the blonde, while standing up. Even though she was a mere 5' 5" to his 6', she didn't back down.

"You have no bloody right to tell me who I can and can't go to lunch with you miserable ferret!"

Malfoy smirked, "Well actually I do, because I am your boss until you are no longer my lawyer."

"You still have no right, I am allowed to date whomever I choose! What I do outside of your manor, unless it has something to do with the case, you have absolutely no control."

By the time Ariel arrived they were second from a duel. Hermione's hand had snatched her wand from her boot and Malfoy had his gripped in his hand a second later.

"Oi! You two children quit your bickering and let's get started!" Ariel scolded.

The two eventually followed her orders but not for long, soon they were arguing about something else, until finally it was lunch time. Ariel came back into the room and bid her a good lunch while Malfoy sulked in his big office chair and grumbled to himself. And that is what brought Hermione to the Ministry to meet a very hot and nice Italian guy for lunch.

She saw him before he saw her and so she took this chance to study his green eyes and dark hair so opposite from Malfoy in every way….woah…who cares about Malfoy, Nic Ricci was the sweet romantic guy, well she assumed, that was about to take her to lunch: Malfoy was, well just ugh.

Nic noticed her and approached her.

"Hermione, how are you?" he asked smiling.

Hermione blushed slightly and returned his smile.

"I'm well, and you?" Hermione asked.

"Wonderful now," he supplied with a charming grin.

"Come, let's go to this coffee shop that I love around the corner."

So they walked to the coffee shop, actually walked, didn't apparate or anything. Most wizards would not have agreed to walk but Nic suggested it. To say Hermione was infatuated was an understatement.

At the coffee shop Nic ordered for them, she was surprised but he said that he knew what she'd like. Normally, this would annoy her but with Nic she didn't mind. Once they go their muffins and coffee they sat at a table. Hermione did like the coffee he ordered her and decided that it was her new favorite.

He was extremely hot, sweet, and, as he told her about his job at the Daily Prophet and all that he had done, she decided he was exciting and smart as well. He was the perfect guy.

"So how is your new case with Draco Malfoy?" Nic asked her casually.

Hermione came out of her daydream world where Nic Ricci was snogging her brains out at the sound of his voice.

"Oh! Oh, it's quite challenging to work with Malfoy but other than that that it is an intriguing case,"

"I see," Nic nodded, "I can't imagine having to work with Malfoy of all people I mean it must be horrible to have to see him all day, every day."

"Well, yes, it is like just this morning, well, I probably shouldn't tell you anything about the case, no offense but I can't have my boss all over the papers as much as I'd like him to be," she studied his easy smile and handsome features.

"Oh off the record no worries," he assured her.

"Did you know each other? I told him I was having lunch with you and he seemed to know you."

A weird look passed over his features for a moment but disappeared as soon as it came leading Hermione to think it was her imagination.

"Oh, we knew each other as kids, but as you know he's not exactly agreeable."

"Well that's an understatement," Hermione laughed.

"So tell me about Potter and Weasley, what are they really like?"

And soon Hermione was talking freely with him. She hadn't had such a wonderful conversation in such a long time. This man had been the first man since Ronald to make her feel interesting and beautiful.

"Well I had better get back to the manor," Hermione eventually sighed trying to hide her disappointment at having to leave him.

"So you have had to spend time at the manor? Alone with Malfoy? Is that really safe?" Nic asked.

"Oh! Well I mean he's a prick but he's not dangerous, and I'd rather eat a cockroach than spend time with him but I think it's safe to say he's not going to hurt me," Hermione reasoned, "Besides with Ariel there it isn't too horrible."

In her long monologue to him she had explained to him about the case as soon everyone would know about Ariel's murder charge but telling details of the case, Hermione knew was out of the question, she hated Malfoy, but she had nothing against Ariel.

That look crossed his face again but Hermione was positive it was only a trick of the light because he was smiling a moment later.

"Wonderful!" he stood and threw some money on the table, waiting for Hermione to gather her things and follow.

He then held out his hand to her which she took with a blush, and he helped her out of her chair. Then he continued holding her hand and with a spin and some squeezing they landed gracefully in front of the manor's gates. Hermione's head took a second to catch up with her, as she was not quite used to side-along-apparition. Normally, she would have been upset that he had apparated them without any warning but she realized it was pretty much the same as him walking her home so she ignored the annoying little voice in the back of her head and smiled at him. He grinned back and then quickly stole a chaste kiss and disapparated.

Hermione was grinning dazedly when she walked into Malfoy's study five minutes later. She ignored Malfoy's sneer and his question of "what's gotten into you?" and continued daydreaming of her new crush, in all his Italian looking glory.

"Granger!" Hermione snapped out of her daydream to find Malfoy's cool gray eyes glaring at her.

He was only inches from her but he was quite a bit taller than her.

She glared back and crossed her arms.

"_What?_" she asked irritably.

"I asked you a question!" He growled at her.

It was then that Ariel came into the room to find her cousin inches from the brunette witch, towering over her smaller frame. Ariel grinned as the two argued about Hermione's whereabouts for lunch.

"You have no right to tell me whether or not I can go to lunch with Nic Ricci or not. I may go to lunch with whomever I please for Merlin's sake!"

"You little….!"

"Hermione's right Draco," Ariel interrupted from her position on top of his desk.

Both heads snapped towards her. They jumped away from each other, Draco storming toward his desk and Hermione grinning brightly at Ariel. Draco continued to sulk in his desk chair moodily while Hermione and Ariel discussed the case. After a while Hermione glanced up from her file, obviously about to say something but Draco observed that it was something Ariel wasn't going to like.

"Ehem…er…" Hermione began, and Ariel looked up at her amused.

"Darling you should not start a sentence unless you know what you are going to say, it's improper and unflattering."

Hermione blushed and cleared her throat.

"Well, Ariel, I'm sorry we're going to need to go to your home and search for traces of magic," Hermione stated quietly.

This caused Draco to stop sulking and sit up straight. Ariel went pale, well paler than usual.

"Granger you can't expect her to go into the place where she found her husband dead and bloody on the floor."

Ariel stood abruptly and straightened her already impeccable skirts.

"You two are free to investigate my home, I am in need of a nap, I should not be in attendance anyways because of possible evidence not being able to be used in court."

And with that the blonde witch swiftly, but gracefully left to room closing the door with a soft click. This left the two still in the room to look after her guiltily. Hermione glanced at Malfoy to find his face openly showing guilt and worry for his cousin. Hermione had never seen anything but anger, contempt, and indifference on his face.

"Well," Hermione said finally, "We should go."

Malfoy nodded and grabbed his cloak. He then approached her which Hermione found disconcerting. He rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand.

"You've never seen the house so I will need to apparated us," he explained.

Hermione nodded, still slightly uncomfortable with his big hand enclosed around her smaller one. As soon as the squeezing stopped Hermione dropped his hand and put some space between them. Hermione was surprised to find that the house was large but not as large as she had believed it to be. She was about to walk into the house when Malfoy latched on to her wrist and jerked her behind him. Hermione was so surprised she forgot to yell at him as he pulled out his wand and approached the house slowly, pulling her by her wrist behind him.

"Malfoy, what the bloody hell?" she whispered.

He whipped around and glared at her putting a finger to his lips for her to be quiet.

Once they were inside she felt it, the dark magic was palpable in the air throughout the house. She swallowed hard and inched a bit closer to Malfoy, which she would have found disgusting in any other situation but this one. She pulled her wand out of her boot and followed the blonde wizard in front of her. Suddenly, he stiffened and before she knew it she was against the wall in a dark closet with Malfoy pressed against her body and his hand over her mouth.

The fact that her body was responding very weirdly to the firmness of his abdomen against her hands and his intoxicating smell was creeping her out. She wished the freaking death eaters would attack them already so that she wouldn't have to be in this closet with this obnoxious man and his infuriatingly good looks and hot body. Honestly, if he was any other person she would not mind being in this position. Unfortunately for her it was not to be as such.

She glanced through the slits in the closet door at the four or five death eaters searching the area they had been moments before, and as they inched closer and closer to their current hiding place, and Malfoy crushed her further and further into the corner, she wondered what in Godric's name she did to deserve this?

**Review Please?**

**~Ace~**


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